Page 23 of Kissing Her Rescuer

“Thanks for the description,” Eliza gritted through her teeth as they hissed again. One of them growled. In the dark, with only a shadowed outline of their ears, fear ripped through her. Dewey pulled her as close as possible.

“It’s fine,” he whispered in her ear.

The shadows moved down one wall and then over to the other corner.

“Here.” Dewey held out his knife to Hudson. “If you can locate exactly where they are, point the flashlight at them and turn it on when I say go. We can try to shock them for a moment for us to get out without them feeling cornered and attacking. Unless they have another way out, we're blocking their only exit.”

Hudson accepted the knife.

Dewey's lips pressed against her temple and again near her ear. “I need you to sprint out in front of me. Don't stop till you get out of the woods. I’ll be right behind you. They won’t chase you, but I’d rather deal with them without you near.”

Eliza nodded.

“Now.”

Hudson clicked on the light, and Dewey pushed Eliza toward the door. She ran until she made it to Becky.

Becky stopped her pacing and rushed forward. “Are you okay?” she asked Eliza with complete sympathy. A second later, she slapped at Dewey’s back as he followed her into the clearing. “You dumbass,” Becky shouted. “You knew there had to be all types of things in there. I'm surprised you didn't find a few snakes while you were at it.”

Dewey’s hand landed possessively along the back of Eliza’s neck. “I looked around and didn't see anything.”

“That doesn't make you less of a dumbass. Eliza, are you alright?”

“I'm fine. Probably won't go into creepy cabins in the woods again for a while.”

Dewey squeezed her neck lightly and trailed his hand down her back until he linked his hand with hers. She appreciated it since her body would shake apart at any moment. It was a raccoon. It didn't matter how many times she told herself, or the fact she'd grown up in the country with the rascals getting into their trash some nights, she didn't want to be locked in a shed with one ever again.

Hudson turned the flashlight on and off and on again, impatient. “Let's go get everyone else.”

Becky waited an extra second, looking between the two of them, before following Hudson into the woods.

“Do you want to go inside?” He brought the back of her hand to his lips. “Talk?”

She nodded, unable to do much else. She didn't know what made her shake worse. A hissing raccoon or Dewey.

8

In the light of the kitchen, the nervousness in Eliza's eyes pushed away all his ideas to pick up where they’d been interrupted. Damn raccoons.

“Here.” He handed her a bottle of water. “You need to drink something for the shock. You still look a little pale.”

She took a small sip and set it on the table. Her hands trembled before she dropped them into her lap.

“You're okay now.”

She gave him a small smile. “I know. Just still hard to get over it.”

“Raccoons have their part in the woods, but you and Becky were both right, I probably shouldn't have taken you inside there without checking it out better.”

Her green eyes watched him for a long moment. “I wasn't talking about the raccoon.”

His body stilled.

“The shock of you holding me,” she said, adding in a small voice, “again.”

His world tilted. That rusty move had shocked her more than a raccoon hissing and growling at her less than four feet away? She sipped the water, her hands still shaking.

He pulled out the chair beside her, taking her hands in his as he sat. They were cold even though the temperature outside hovered close to eighty-five.

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